Firewall adapted for battlefield use

Secure Computing, a security vendor that helps protect U.S. military communications, says it has adapted its firewall so that it can be used without enemy interception of IP transmissions in tanks, Humvees and helicopters. Warfare technology now relies on satellite imagery to determine the best tactical moves and IP communications to relay instructions to soldiers, and these communications must be kept secure.

Secure Computing claims to have teamed with General Dynamics Canada to create a MESHnet Firewall that will protect mobile IP networks deployed on military vehicles. The product contains a Sidewinder Firewall built by Secure Computing that is protected inside a conduction-cooled chassis built by General Dynamics.

MESHnet Firewall is a response to IP networks being extended from military bases to the actual vehicles on the battlefield, and could be used by individual Western militaries or United Nations coalition forces composed of various countries sharing battlefield and tactical data, with the IP network a mobile extension of the data center. The firewall is necessary to protect core classified data that is being sent in an extremely dusty and hot environment with gunfire and explosions frequently occurring near the data reception points.